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Cited by 126Mental Health Treatment and AccessAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychology and Mental Health

Beliefs and Attitudes Associated With the Intention to Not Accept the Diagnosis of Depression Among Young Adults

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Van Voorhees, B. W.·2005·The Annals of Family Medicine
DOI 10.1370/afm.273PMC PMC1466793
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Abstract

PURPOSE: Negative attitudes and beliefs about depression treatment may prevent many young adults from accepting a diagnosis and treatment for depression. We undertook a study to determine the association between depressive symptom severity, beliefs about and attitudes toward treatment, subjective social norms, and past behavior on the intent not to accept a physician's diagnosis of depression. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 10,962 persons aged 16 to 29 years who participated and had positive screening results on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) score in an Internet-based public health depression screening program. Participants reported whether they would accept their physician's diagnosis of depression. Based on the theory of reasoned action, we developed a multivariate model of the factors that predict intent not to accept a diagnosis of depression. RESULTS: Twenty-six percent of the participants stated their intent not to accept their physician's diagnosis of depression. Disagreeing that medications are effective in treating depression (strongly disagree, odds ratio ( OR ) = 6.5, 95% confidence interval (CI), 4.6-9.3), that there is a biological cause for depression (strongly disagree, OR = 1.9, 95% CI, 1.3-2.7), and agreeing that you would be embarrassed if your friends knew you had depression were associated with the intent not to accept a diagnosis of depression (strongly agree, OR = 2.3, 95% CI, 1.8-2.9). Beliefs and attitudes, subjective social norms, and past behavior explained most of the variance in this model (84%). CONCLUSIONS: Negative beliefs and attitudes, subjective social norms, and lack of past helpful treatment experiences are associated with the intent to not accept the diagnosis of depression and may contribute to low rates of treatment among young adults.

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  • Psychological studies suggest that the link between expressed attitudes and behavior is often not direct and is moderated by various other factors including norms and expected consequences of the behavior.

    “Psychological studies suggest that the link between expressed attitudes and behavior is often not direct and is moderated by various other factors including norms and expected consequences of the behavior (6, 30-33).”

    From Attitudes toward mental health help seeking as predictors of future help-seeking behavior and use of mental health treatments (2016) · cites this paper as [6]

  • Improving public attitudes toward professional mental health help-seeking has been a major focus of campaigns aimed at increasing mental health service use.

    “Improving public attitudes toward professional mental health help-seeking has been a major focus of campaigns aimed at increasing mental health service use (1-7).”

    From Attitudes toward mental health help seeking as predictors of future help-seeking behavior and use of mental health treatments (2016) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Discussion links beliefs and attitudes to young adults’ help-seeking, but it does not discuss campaigns or their priorities. Searches for campaigns and public education found no passage saying that improving public attitudes has been a major focus of efforts to increase mental health service use. The indexed passages provide no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. [1]1. Kessler RC, Walters EE. Epidemiology of DSM-III-R major depression and minor depression among adolescents and young adults in the National Comorbidity Survey. Depress Anxiety. 1998;7:3-14.
  2. [7]7. Binder J, Angst J. [Social consequences of psychic disturbances in the population: a fi eld study on young adults (author's transl)]. Arch Psychiatr Ner- venkr. 1981;229:355-370.
  3. [32]32. Eysenbach G, Wyatt J. Using the internet for surveys and health research. J Med Internet Res. 2002;4:E13.
  4. [50]50. STATA 7 Users Guide. Vol U. College Station, TX: STATA Press; 1985- 2000.

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Authors
Van Voorhees, B. W.
Venue
The Annals of Family Medicine
Publisher
Annals of Family Medicine
Published
2005-01-01
Volume
3
Issue
1
Pages
38-46
ISSN
  • 1544-1709 (ISSN-L)
  • 1544-1717
DOI
10.1370/afm.273
PMC
PMC1466793
OpenAlex
W2119086502
Cited by
126
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 10
FWCI
16.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Annals of Family Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Center for Research Resources (M01RR002719)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
Keywords
depression, young adults, treatment refusal, subjective norms, theory of reasoned action, stigma, help-seeking, depression severity, depression screening
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Culture, Depression, Female, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Patient Acceptance of Health Care

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